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[swiss]

Hi,

finally I got my girlfriend to play some old games with me and now I have to find out that my keyboard does not accept more than 2 keys pressed at the same time.

For BC-Racers it means that only one of us can accelerate and steer or just both only accelerate or both just steer. That makes it impossible to play games. (except dynablaster, where you normaly only use 2 keys at the same moment).

I remember this issue from my first few Mortal Kombat 1 attempts. At my cousin's it was no prob but my computer didn't support so much keys at the same time. I bought a new keyboard and I still had the same problems. But that were DOS times ...

Today I (as I have mentioned) have these problems with my brand new 3.2 Ghz PC and I had it with my laptop and the computer I had before I had my laptop and the PC before ... ...

Is it a software problem or a general keyboard issue ?! Does anyone experience the same problems ?

[troop18546]

Same here. Only 2 keez at a time.

[Data]

it's problem of the keyboard and it's controller. (though the beeping might be done by the ps2 controller.)
It probably depends on the brand and type.

[Eagle of Fire]

I'm with Data on this one, but I remember this issue to be extremely annoying back in the days. And very common, too.

[Fruit Pie Jones]

I recall having this issue a long time ago as well, but only with certain key combinations. Depending on which keys you pressed, you could only get a couple at the same time without problems, or you could get more than you'd need. I think it had something to do with the way the keyboard was wired. Try remapping your controls (if possible) on games that are afffected by this, and see if you can find some combination that will work.

[Bernie]

Most likely it is because your keyboard doesn't have diodes, to prevent this.
The keyboard is wired in a matrix, it causes issues with certain key presses.
Here is a site with an explaination:

Keyboard Matrix

oh, yeah. Solutions: try install the diodes yourself, or get a better keyboard.

[swiss]

Originally posted by Bernie@Aug 18 2005, 06:12 PM
Most likely it is because your keyboard doesn't have diodes, to prevent this.
The keyboard is wired in a matrix, it causes issues with certain key presses.
Here is a site with an explaination:

Keyboard Matrix

oh, yeah. Solutions: try install the diodes yourself, or get a better keyboard.

wow ... that's what I call an explanation ! Thank you !

In my opinion it's a software issue. Why? because on my keyboard some oilder DOS game have this problem (such as Mortal combat 2 where you can't opress more than 2 key at same time or Super Karts also have some problems). I also noticed that in need for speed 1,2, 3 and 4. when i press the "H" key (horn) at steer left at same time the wehicle wont turn. However if i change the horn key to let's say "Q" it all works perfect. Some keys just don't go well together in some software.

Another proof thta this issue is software related is that when i play Half life or new Windows games (Medal of honour, Return to Castle Wolfenstein etc.), or some old ones, such as Space Federation, i don't have this problem. i can press a lot of keys at same time yet the keybord works fine. for example in Half life i press jump+crouch+reload+forward+slide and it all works without any problem.

therefore it is clearly a software issue known as Key-jamming. often two keys have same or at least simmilar address. so when you press them at same time they produce a beep in computer- some old dos games used to have it but many new windows games have this issue solved.

solution (if possible) is to change the keys you are playing with. to which ones? well you will have to do a bit of testing to find that out but left arrow+H is no good.

One more thing i just remembered -- there are programes that will make you sort of a map of your keyboard and they will also provide you there with onfo on which keys don't go together well.

Originally posted by Guest@Aug 20 2005, 05:48 AM
"In my opinion it's a software issue. Why? because on my keyboard some oilder DOS game have this problem (such as Mortal combat 2 where you can't opress more than 2 key at same time or Super Karts also have some problems). I also noticed that in need for speed 1,2, 3 and 4. when i press the "H" key (horn) at steer left at same time the wehicle wont turn. However if i change the horn key to let's say "Q" it all works perfect. Some keys just don't go well together in some software.

Another proof thta this issue is software related is that when i play Half life or new Windows games (Medal of honour, Return to Castle Wolfenstein etc.), or some old ones, such as Space Federation, i don't have this problem. i can press a lot of keys at same time yet the keybord works fine. for example in Half life i press jump+crouch+reload+forward+slide and it all works without any problem.

therefore it is clearly a software issue known as Key-jamming. often two keys have same or at least simmilar address. so when you press them at same time they produce a beep in computer..."

Here is a way to see if it is a keyboard problem or a software problem.

If you have a real IBM-standard (Model M) keyboard (or one that follows its hardware design) the following test will work to demonstrate that your keyboard is working properly. If you don't have a keyboard that follows the standard, it will fail. We are testing for the ability to support 'n-Key rollover"...

Open a "Command Prompt" in WinNT/2K/XP or a "Dos Window" in Win9x/ME or boot to a "C:\>" prompt in actual MS-DOS. Now at the "Dos" prompt conduct the following test.

Press the "S", "D", "F", "J", "K", "L" keys down at the same time, then release at the same time. If you have an keyboard which follows the original IBM specification keyboard you will see the six characters 'SDFJKL' displayed in some random order (like 'dfjkls')at the "Dos" prompt. The order is not important, the fact that there are all six different characters from the above listed test keys are displayed is what is important. If you only get three or four of the six keys depressed to show in the screen then your keyboard is not capable of "n-Key rollover" and you will have problems in certain situations in certain games/applications.


Best of luck...